Just wondering what people use for the bottom of the cage. I have been using Finacard but can't seem to get hold of it. Is there anything else that people can recommend? I looked at some of the Pets At Home offerings, are any of them any good?
Thank you
dom

It's a difficult time of the year with shutdowns over Christmas... I like using a mix of finacard and megaspread, but neither are currently available from my normal suppliers (Finacard, Rat Rations, and Arley Moss).

Look for any sort of chopped cardboard - brands include greenmile (shredded) and ecobed (squares).
Shavings are also suitable if they are both kiln dried and dust extracted - brands include pureflake extra (very soft and doesn't smell of wood), and bedmax (more woody smelling and harder).
Aubiose is safe to use, and commonly available, but the small bits get everywhere!

The best place to look is an equestrian supplier, as most horse beddings are okay.

I can't offer advise on an alternative, but I thought I'd share that I got an email from Finacard on 10th December that read:

"Hello

I regret to write to you saying that we had to stop supplying Finacard

Unfortunately, we are unable to supply Finacard at the moment. Our supplier of waste card is unable to supply us and in turn, we cannot supply Finacard.

We are hoping to arrange alternative supplies of waste card and will then be able to supply Finacard.

Please bear with us during this difficult time.

Kind Regards

Dilip"

the website just says "Finacard is moving. We'll be back in the New Year".

On ratrations Finacard, Walmsley, and Green Mile are all showing as sold out - wonder if all the companies are struggling in the same way or if it's just not in stock yet, might be worth emailing ratrations.

Last time I searched three local equestrian suppliers and none of them carried cardboard bedding, thankfully I have two whole bales in the loft.

I can say I tried Hugro Hemp Pellets before and found them very hard and not suitable at all.

It's very similar to Green Mile, so not as soft as Finacard, but still made of cardboard and in rectangular strips (for those of us who don't like squares). The list price is more expensive than other cardboards, but if you need your substrate delivered anyway, it doesn't work out too badly since VetUK do free delivery with £29+ orders. It also comes in smaller bales so you don't have to lug around a 20kg lump if that's a consideration. Not the most economical choice for sure, but probably the only easy source of cardboard strips at the moment. I might have to resort to it myself in the not too distant future!

As you know towards the end of last year we lost our supply of waste cardboard and had to withdraw our pride and joy product Finacard.

During our travels looking for a new supplier, we came across material which will make excellent bedding.

Surprisingly, bedding made from this material is far superior than Finacard, which we always thought is not possible.

We have found a supply of eggboxes which have not been used at all. We were always aware of supply of eggboxes which have been used before and would not entertain the idea of using them as there was a serious risk of broken eggs and egg yolk in the bedding, however hard one tries to remove any contaminated eggboxes.

Now, that we have a source of unused eggboxes with no risk of contaminants, we decided to produce and trial the bedding.

I am pleased to report that the bedding, which we will call SoftaCARD, is far superior to Finacard.

SoftaCARD is less dusty (virtually no dust) than Finacard.
SoftaCARD is more absorbent than Finacard.
SoftaCARD is softer and more comfortable than Finacard.

We are very pleased that we found this material and would encourage you to give it a try.

Yeah, that's been mentioned on ratty FB as well today. Hopefully Rat Rations will be selling it in smaller quantities like they do with their other beddings; that way I can try it out without having to commit to a whole bale. Not sure what egg carton is going to be like for digging but we'll see. Maybe I'll have a new favourite for oldies?